The invention relates to carton flap holding devices, and in particular it relates a temporary holder or clip for retaining carton flaps either in the closed position or the fully open position.
A number of different devices have been suggested for retaining flaps of various types of cartons in an opened or a closed position. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,801,453, 4,528,800 and 4,619,398. The latter patent discloses a closer and sealer device for sliding onto the top of a milk carton in order to hold and seal the previously opened carton flaps in the closed position.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,801,453 and 4,528,800 both disclose carton flap holders for a purpose which is similar to one function of the present invention: holding the flaps of a corrugated carton in the fully opened position, as for loading or unloading. The devices of the patents comprise three projecting parallel prongs, spaced apart from each other and all integral with a connecting spine portion at one end. The devices were intended to be pushed down on the corner of a carton with the flaps open and folded back, with the central prong inside the corner of the carton and the two outer prongs on the outside, engaging the surfaces of the side flap and the end flap.
The described devices were configured differently from the flap holder of the present invention, and neither had the versatility of use of the present invention as described below.